Category: Technology

Elon Musk’s plan to democratize Twitter verification lasted less than two days. Twitter has temporarily pulled new signups for Twitter Blue after the platform was overrun by verified trolls. The company told staffers subscriptions were on hold to “help address impersonation issues,” according to Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer. It turns out paid verification was as much of a mess as nearly everyone predicted.

At first, it seemed as if Twitter had a plan to address the impersonation issue. Just ahead of the rollout of the new Twitter Blue, It introduced a separate “official” badge that would be appended to “government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.” But Musk quickly changed his mind, and killed the idea just a few hours after it was announced. Paid verification launched Wednesday, without the label.

Unsurprisingly, it started to go wrong almost immediately. A fake Nintendo account posted an image of Mario flipping everyone off. A fake Tony Blair retweeted a fake George Bush. A verified Pope John Paul tweeted conspiracy theories at a verified Martin Luther account, which was replying to a verified Pope Francis impersonator. An account masquerading as Twitter’s official @verified tweeted crypto scams. An imposter LeBron said he was requesting a trade.

Twitter responded by halting Blue subscriptions for new accounts, but the move had little effect on the deluge of verified trolling. Fake accounts sprung up to interact with other impersonators.

One of the most viral examples was a verified Eli Lilly account that tweeted “insulin is free now,” which forced the real ELi Lilly to apologize for the “misleading” tweet because its insulin is, in fact, not free. Another fake Eli Lilly then apologized for the actual Eli Lilly’s apology. An account that appeared to belong to a Twitter ad sales rep desperately tweeted at Musk to remove the fake Eli Lilly accounts. Both of the fake Eli Lilly accounts were suspended, but the tweets still sent the pharma company’s stock into a nosedive.

Musk responded that parody accounts needed to be clearly labeled. “Tricking people is not okay,” he tweeted. Some made half-hearted attempts to comply. A fake Tesla account going by @Teslareal scrawled “parody” onto the header image in its profile, but continued to troll Musk (the account is now suspended).

Meanwhile, a number of extremists and conspiracy theorists also purchased verification, including — ironically — Jason Kessler, whose 2017 Twitter verification prompted a nearly four-year “pause” of verification. Media Matters reported that many of these newly verified right-wing accounts were already using them to amplify misinformation. A verified account impersonator Arizona candidate for governor Kari Lake tweeted that she had won her race even though it had not yet been called, according to The Washington Post.

By Friday morning Twitter Blue subscriptions were no longer available in Twitter’s app or website. And it’s unclear when it could re-launch. And, two days after Musk said the blue check would be “the great leveler,” Twitter confirmed it would bring back the gray “official” label after all in order to “combat impersonation.”

But despite the constant policy reversals and the flood of impersonators, Musk was still upbeat. “Some epically funny tweets,” he said. “Hit all-time high of active users today.” he added. 

 

When it comes to charging your EV in the US, Canada and Mexico, the only two connector types available aren’t cross-compatible. Tesla has its J1772 connector, which in the company’s defense was developed when Tesla was still the only EV game in town. Everybody else uses the current North American standard, the Combined Charging System (CCS). Tesla apparently hopes to upend that dynamic, announcing Friday that it is “opening our EV connector design to the world.”  

Tesla is releasing its specs and production designs for the J1772 connector, which it is rebranding as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), in hopes that charging networks like Electrify America and Chargepoint will incorporate the company’s hardware in their stations. The NACS contains “no moving parts, is half the size, and twice as powerful,” as the alternative, Tesla argues. 

The company presses that these networks should adopt its technology because, “NACS vehicles outnumber CCS two-to-one, and Tesla’s Supercharging network has 60 percent more NACS posts than all the CCS-equipped networks combined.” I mean, sure, but that’s kind of ignoring that those numbers are a direct result of the multi-year lead that Tesla held over its competition in coming to market, a capitalization lead that is rapidly shrinking as the industry’s marquee brands like GM, Honda and Audi pivot to electrification and Chinese makers like BYD dominate the EV space in Asia’s largest market.

Tesla claims that “network operators already have plans in motion to incorporate NACS at their chargers,” without specifying which networks are doing so and at what scale. The company “looks forward to future electric vehicles incorporating the NACS design and charging at Tesla’s North American Supercharging and Destination Charging networks.”

We can only speculate as to why Tesla has decided that right now — even as Elon Musk sinks faster than Artax into the quicksands of Twitter ownership — is the best tiime to open up their standard to the rest of the industry. Tesla, and now Twitter too, does not employ a public-facing PR team, so your guess is as good as any blue check’s.

 

Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack is exactly what it says on the tin: a portable battery that snaps to the back of an iPhone through Apple’s MagSafe magnetic charging tech and charges the handset wirelessly. The battery is a tougher sell at full price, but today it’s available for $71, which marks the lowest price we’ve seen to date. For reference, Apple typically sells the device for $99, though its average price online has sat closer to $90 in recent months.

The MagSafe Battery Pack works with any iPhone 12, 13, or 14 model, and using it is as simple as slapping it on the back of one of those devices and letting it do its thing. You don’t have to press any additional buttons to start the charge, unlike many third-party competitors. Design wise, it’s a slim, matte plastic rectangle that’s designed to match the dimensions of an iPhone 12 or 13 mini, so it’ll fit entirely within the back of a larger device like the iPhone 14 Pro Max. 

Because this is an Apple-made product, it’s also able to integrate with an iPhone in ways competing MagSafe batteries can not. You can see the pack’s charge level through iOS’s Control Center and Batteries widget, for instance, and you can reverse-charge the battery itself from your iPhone when the latter is plugged in. By default, the pack will only charge your phone to around 90 percent to better preserve its efficiency, though you can turn that off if you wish.

If you have a 20W or higher charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable, you can also turn the MagSafe Battery Pack into a 15W wireless charging puck, which gives it a bit of utility when you aren’t out of the house. Unfortunately, and perhaps expectedly, Apple doesn’t include a cable or power brick in the box, but that’s less of a problem if you already own both of those for your iPhone. (If you don’t, our guide to the best fast chargers may be of interest.) 

When it comes to actually charging your iPhone, the MagSafe Battery Pack is a bit more compromised. Part of that is just due to the nature of wireless charging; the tech has improved over the years, but if you want the fastest charge possible, a cable with a traditional battery pack can still be much quicker to top things off. But the capacity of the MagSafe Battery Pack itself is fairly small at 1,460mAh (or 11.13Wh), so it can only charge a standard iPhone 14 to about 60-65 percent from zero. 

We’ve recommended Anker’s 622 Magnetic Battery as a good alternative to the MagSafe Battery Pack in the past; that one has a larger 5,000mAh (19.25Wh) capacity that can get closer to an 80-85 percent charge on the same phone. It also costs less than Apple’s pack even with the latter on sale, has a built-in kickstand, and comes in a wider variety of colors. (The MagSafe Battery Pack is only available in white.) It’s not designed as neatly for iPhones and lacks the extras noted above, but it’s a better value if you just want more juice from a compact MagSafe pack. Anker’s 633 Magnetic Battery, meanwhile, has an even greater capacity, albeit in a thicker frame.

Still, since their charging abilities are all somewhat limited, MagSafe packs like these are best thought of as battery extenders, things can use to keep your phone going in a pinch, more than full-on power banks. For that, the MagSafe Battery Pack is fine, particularly since Apple released a firmware update earlier this year that boosted the device’s charging rate from 5W to 7.5W, which is still slower than an optimal wired connection but matches the Anker models above. If you can live with the lesser capacity and know you’ll value some of its more iPhone-friendly features, it should be easier to justify at this deal price.

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My first “adult” TV was a 200-pound CRT monstrosity that lived inside an even more monstrous, 300-pound cabinet with doors. After that, I upgraded to a monitor-and-laptop setup that stowed in the hidey compartment of my coffee table. The thing is, I loathe black mirrors; the blank void that stares out when a TV is off creeps me out. (I blame The Ring.) I decided all screens had to stay hidden if I wasn’t actively watching them and just avoided a wall-mounted TV altogether – until the market came up with one that looks like art when it’s off.

Samsung’s The Frame came out in 2017. I bought a 43-inch model back in 2019 and have been a big fan ever since. On the inside, it’s a thoroughly serviceable smart TV with a QLED panel and Samsung’s Tizen OS (which the company just licensed for use with non-Samsung TVs). The picture is bright, the sound is clear, and Tizen is easy to figure out – but I forked over $800 for the namesake feature.

The Frame does a great job of looking like art hanging on my wall. The thin panel has picture-frame edges and mounts flat against the wall, like a giant photo. The panel connects via a thin wire to an external receiver/port hub/tuner box combo, which means you can actually drop the wire behind the drywall and have it pop out elsewhere, furthering the illusion that there’s nothing electronic going on here. The brick walls of my old house aren’t letting that happen, so I hide the wire behind a plant.

As for the effect, I’ve had people come over who asked me whether we had a TV at all, standing just a couple feet from The Frame. It’s fun to turn it on and witness their total surprise. I will say I’m jealous of the latest models, which have an anti-reflective matte finish that I wish my older model had. I think it enhances the effect.

The Frame’s elegant hardware is a perk, but the other important factor in the art-not-TV illusion comes from Samsung’s Art Store, an $8 monthly subscription that grants access to a ton of art to display. There are collections from the Louvre (though picking a Vermeer to hang on your wall might stretch credulity) as well as the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, Etsy, Life Picture Collection, Saatchi Art, van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, BBC Earth, Magnum photos and lots more. I tend to go with abstracts and modern photography, and my kid likes the illustrations and wildlife photos.

But if you (understandably) have subscription fatigue from the 25 different services you pay for and don’t want to add another to the list, the included “Samsung collection” offers 10 artworks for free. You can also use your own images if you prefer (just make sure they’re large format or they’ll look pixelated). Personally, I’ve never tried using my own images; I leave art to the professionals.

I like to swap out the image a couple times a month, and can easily kill an hour picking the next piece of art to grace my walls. There’s an option that’ll rotate through all images in a collection, automatically switching at regular intervals, from every 10 minutes to once a week. I firmly believe adding a mat to the image makes it look more real. After you pick the image you want to display, you have the option of selecting no mat, a modern mat or a shadowbox mat. Both mats come in ten different colors, but I’ve never found anything that beats the antique white color in the modern mat option.

Considering the Frame is technically always-on, you may have reservations about the TV’s energy usage. In art mode, Samsung says a 65-inch Frame consumes about 50 watts of power. I’ve personally made a series of changes in life – downsizing square footage, trading a car for an e-bike, cutting out meat, etc. – to ease my carbon footprint, and I allow myself this minor indulgence. But if that aspect weighs on you, you could even consider the same carbon offsets people buy when they fly.

Plus, there are a couple of features that make sure the Frame isn’t always on. With Night Mode, the TV shuts itself off when the lights go out. Then in the morning, after sensing light again, it turns the art back on. You can also set it to detect when there’s motion in the room, turning off when no one’s around. When I tried this, my model kept turning off and never sensing motion again, despite me doing jumping jacks right in front of it, so I opted to disable that feature. The same sensors that detect darkness and (theoretically) movement also adjust the brightness of the image, so it never looks too intense, a trait that keeps things looking more like a framed oil painting and less like a TV. Which, for me, is the whole point.

 

Microsoft hasn’t been shy about wanting to improve the repairability of Surface devices, and that now includes the availability of spare parts. In a statement to iFixit, Microsoft says it plans “broad availability” of parts for individuals and independent repair shops in the first half of 2023. You can also expect complete repair manuals for the Surface Pro 9 by the end of this year. A wider repair network will be available in early 2023 with the help of a “major US retailer.”

That improved stance is reflected in the company’s latest designs. Microsoft says repairability was a “major focus” in the Surface Pro 9’s construction, and iFixit has confirmed as much in its independently run teardown of the Windows tablet. The user-accessible SSD is just the start. The battery is screwed in rather than glued, and the display is easier to remove when you’re digging into the internals. This is the “most repairable” Surface yet, according to iFixit, and a sharp contrast with the notoriously difficult-to-fix builds of the past.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has made nods toward do-it-yourself repair. The Surface Laptop 3 was easier to open, and even the extra-slim Surface Pro X had a user-replaceable SSD. iFixit also warns that it can’t truly judge the Surface Pro 9’s repairability until the manuals and parts are available. The RAM is still soldered on, too, even if it might offer added performance and energy savings as a result. This is a large step in the right direction, but not the definitive solution.

As with similar efforts by Apple, Google, Samsung and others, Microsoft isn’t acting strictly out of kindness. The tech industry is facing pressure from federal and state governments to improve repairability, including through “Right to Repair” legislation that requires access to components, documents and diagnostics. If Microsoft didn’t make the Surface lineup easier to fix on its own, governments might have stepped in.

 

Twitter isn’t the only notable tech company to bandy around the word “bankruptcy” this week. After a stunningly rapid collapse, crypto exchange FTX has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, while founder Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned as CEO.

The bankruptcy filing covers FTX Trading, FTX US, Alameda Research and around 130 other companies under the umbrella of the FTX Group, according to a press release. Some others, such as FTX Australia and FTX Express Pay, are not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings. Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean that a company is dead in the water — it allows a business to keep trading while it figures out a plan to pay back creditors. However, it’s a tough position to come back from.

“The immediate relief of Chapter 11 is to provide the FTX Group the opportunity to assess its situation and develop a process to maximize recoveries for stakeholders,” new CEO John J. Ray III (a former Enron chairman who came in to oversee that company’s liquidation) said in a statement. “The FTX Group has valuable assets that can only be administered in an organized, joint process. I want to [assure] every employee, customer, creditor, contract party, stockholder, investor, governmental authority and other stakeholder that we are going to conduct this effort with diligence, thoroughness and transparency.” Ray suggested that stakeholders should remain patient, noting that “events have been fast-moving and the new team is engaged only recently.”

The company swiftly found itself in dire straits after the price of its native FTT token nosedived and many users withdrew their cryptocurrency. Following reports that FTX was facing a liquidity crisis, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of rival crypto giant Binance, said his company would sell off around $529 million worth of FTT. That all but wiped out the token’s value.

Binance then agreed to bail out FTX by taking over the company. However, it backed out of the deal a day later, citing concerns that emerged while conducting due diligence. Bankman-Fried went on to apologize for the mess and said on Thursday he was doing everything he could to raise funds and do “right by users.” He stepped down just a day later. 

“This doesn’t necessarily have to mean the end for the companies or their ability to provide value and funds to their customers chiefly, and can be consistent with other routes,” Bankman-Fried wrote on Twitter after the bankruptcy filing. “I’m going to work on giving clarity on where things are in terms of user recovery ASAP.” Bankman-Fried added that he will soon publish a more complete, play-by-play account of what happened to FTX.

Meanwhile, reports have suggested that the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating FTX. It’s not clear when the DOJ started looking into the company’s dealings, but the SEC’s investigation has reportedly been ongoing for several months.

 

If you’ve been waiting for the holiday shopping season to grow your smart home ecosystem without dropping unnecessary amounts of money, you’re in luck. Ahead of Black Friday, Amazon has already knocked down the price of the standard Ring Video Doorbell to $60. That’s $15 cheaper than it was during Prime Day in July earlier this year and the best price we’ve seen it. There are a couple of compelling bundles you could get, too: pair the Video Doorbell with an Echo Show 5 for only $10 more, or get it with a battery-operated Ring Stick Up Camera for a total of $160.

While Ring has come out with multiple new versions of its signature doorbell, the standard model likely has everything most people would need from such a smart home device. It records 1080p video and will send alerts to your smartphone when it detects motion outside your door. It also supports two-way audio, so you can talk to visitors, delivery drivers and others when they ring the bell. This updated version of the original video doorbell has crisper night vision, along with support for privacy zones.

Installing the video doorbell is pretty easy, and you have two power options: hardwire the device to your home for constant power, or keep it running using the built-in rechargeable battery. Just keep in mind that the battery in this model isn’t removeable, so you’ll need to take the whole device off its perch to power it up every once in a while. If that seems like a hassle to you, you’ll have to spring for either the Video Doorbell 3 or Video Doorbell 4 to get a detachable battery. You’ll also get advanced features like 5GHz WiFi and an included corner kit with both of those, too.

Both another thing all Ring Video Doorbells have in common is the ability to sync with Alexa devices. If you have an Echo Show device in your home, or even a more advanced Fire TV streamer, you can use those displays or your TV to check your doorbell’s camera feed.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

Google’s Nest Learning Thermostat is broadly regarded as one of the best smart thermostats you can buy, and right now Wellbots is running a sale that brings the device down to $179 when you use the code THERMOENG at checkout. That isn’t the absolute best price we’ve tracked; this third-generation model launched in 2015, and it’s fallen as low as $140 in the seven years since. But this is still a bit lower than most deal prices we see, coming in $70 under Google’s MSRP and about $35 below the device’s average street price in recent months.

Buy Nest Learning Thermostat at Wellbots – $179

Smart thermostats in general can still be a worthwhile investment for those who want to manage their home’s temperature remotely or cut down on their energy usage (usually). The Nest Learning Thermostat makes doing that relatively straightforward, as it’s able to gradually learn your heating and cooling preferences over a typical day, then automate future climate adjustments for your home with minimal input. It’s still easy enough to make changes manually through Nest’s app, but the device is usually able to create an accurate automatic heating or cooling schedule after a week or so of use. It can also use built-in sensors and your phone to tell when nobody is home, then set temperatures to an appropriate energy-saving range until someone returns. Helpfully, it’ll give a visual indicator whenever it’s set in that range.

If your place has distinct cool or hot spots, or if you prefer to keep certain rooms at specific temperatures, you can also pair the Learning Thermostat with optional temperature sensors to more granularly balance the climate throughout your home. Provided your heating and cooling system is compatible, actually setting up the Learning Thermostat is largely straightforward, and the hardware itself still looks rather clean, with a well-sized display and smooth steel adjustment dial.

The Learning Thermostat is still on the expensive side even with this discount, so it’s worth noting that Google still sells a lower-end model called the Nest Thermostat for $130. That one has similar energy-saving and HVAC monitoring features, though it can’t learn your temperature habits or work with remote sensors, and it has a cheaper-feeling frame based on touch controls. 

The newest high-end thermostats from Ecobee, meanwhile, look to be worthy alternatives if you need support for more smart home platforms (including Apple’s HomeKit) or smarter remote sensors that don’t have to be programmed individually, a la Nest’s. They also have built-in smart speakers. The platform support may be particularly relevant given that Google hasn’t committed to the Learning Thermostat supporting the recently launched Matter smart home standard, which is intended to make smart home devices universally compatible. (The cheaper Nest Thermostat will support this, however.) Still, the Learning Thermostat is the better way to go if you want a more “set-and-forget” option, and at this deal price it’s a fine value.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

While not everyone’s convinced that AI art is actual art, the generators used to whip them up are likely here to stay. DeviantArt is now getting into the space with a generator of its own called DreamUp, promising “safe and fair” generation for creators. The website says one of artists’ main concerns about AI art is that their work may be used to train artificial intelligence models, which means the generator could spit out pieces in their style without their consent. In an attempt to give artists control over their work, DeviantArt is giving them the ability to choose whether or not the tool can use their style for direct inspiration. 

Further, the website is giving them the power to declare whether or not to allow their work to be used in datasets used to train third-party AI models. If they choose not to be included in those datasets, their content pages’ HTML files will contain a “noimageai” directive. Also a “noai” directive protects their artwork when media files are directly downloaded from DeviantArt’s servers. 

“DeviantArt encourages other creator platforms to adopt this approach in order to ensure artists remain able to share their work with online audiences while retaining control over non-human usage,” the website wrote in its announcement. 

Those directives, of course, won’t be added to their pages’ HTML files if they’re cool with their work being used to train AI models. And if they choose to allow DreamUp to use their style as a direct inspiration, they will be “clearly credited” on the output when it’s published on DeviantArt. The website has anticipated that some users wouldn’t be happy seeing even more AI art, though, especially since Midjourney-generated pieces are already a very common sight on the platform. That’s why all DreamUp submissions will be automatically tagged as #AIArt, and users will be able to choose to see or to hide posts under the topic. 

DreamUp is now one of the perks for DeviantArt’s paid Core subscription plans, but all users can sample the tool with up to five free prompts. 

 

To me, cooking nirvana is when you have a recipe in mind, your mise en place all set, and you can focus on getting that perfect sear or saute. But before you get there, having the right equipment for the job goes a really long way. So for the adventurous cook in your life, here are some of our favorite kitchen gadgets that would make excellent gifts this holiday season.

KitchenAid Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender

While KitchenAid’s cordless hand blender isn’t as powerful as some of its wired rivals or countertop models, what it lacks in oomph it makes up for with convenience. There are no speed dials to adjust, just squeeze harder on the trigger to make it go faster. Meanwhile, the lack of wires gives you one less thing to worry about when you’re making sauces or smoothies (especially if you’re doing it on the stovetop). And with a battery life that can blend up to 25 bowls of soup on a single charge, your loved one will probably run out of energy before this thing does. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

Buy KitchenAid hand blender at Amazon – $100

Kyocera Ceramic kitchen knife

Everyone has their preference when it comes to cutting tools, but I think everyone could use a ceramic knife in their arsenal. Starting at under $50, they’re relatively affordable. But more importantly, they are much sharper,hold an edge up to 10 times longer and are lighter than traditional steel blades. That makes them less tiring to use, and you don’t ever have to worry about them rusting either. Just remember, ceramic is more brittle than metal, so tell your giftee to stick to slicing fruits, veggies and boneless meats – leave hacking through bones to other knives. — S.R.

Buy Kyocera knife at Amazon – $60

Mise En Non-stick pans

After being disappointed with a bunch of non-stick pans from big names like All-Clad to smaller brands plastered across social media, I went on a quest to find something I could trust. And after trying out Mise En’s options, I found a winner. Not only are Mise En’s pans significantly cheaper than premium legacy brands, but I’ve also found they maintain their non-stick coating (which is also PFOA-free) much better over time. So if you know someone who would appreciate a good, affordable no-nonsense pan for cooking eggs, crepes or anything else that can get a little gummy, look no further. — S.R.

Buy Mise En pan at Amazon – $81

Instant Vortex Plus air fryer

Air fryers might seem like just a fad. After all, they’re just compact convection ovens, right? That’s true, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work. In our experience, pod-shaped air fryers are able to produce crispier foods than their convection oven counterparts and they’re much easier to clean too. If you have someone in your life who loves the idea of “frying” foods without the oily mess, an air fryer could potentially be a fantastic gift.

Our favorite air fryer is the 6-quart Instant Vortex Plus with ClearCook and OdorErase. It has a display window so your giftee can check how the food looks. It also uses odor-eliminating filters that help reduce cooking smells – a feature that many air fryers lack. The six-quart size in particular is what we recommend; it’s large enough to fit four large chicken thighs or a whole pound of wings. The basket internals are nonstick so it’s easy to clean, plus the inner rack is dishwasher safe. — Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer

Buy Instant Vortex Plus at Amazon – $133

Hedley & Bennett Essential apron

Any home cook will tell you cooking is a messy affair. No matter how neat and tidy you think you are, you’ll inevitably encounter oil spitting at you as you’re frying potstickers or perhaps an accidental splash of tomato sauce as you mix in meatballs. If you have a loved one who cooks often enough, they’ll certainly appreciate an apron to avoid getting any of that mess on their clothes. Hedley & Bennett makes perhaps the best commercially-available apron on the market. The Essential Apron is made from 100 percent cotton twill fabric that’s durable enough to withstand frequent use, and it comes with pockets – one breast pocket for a perhaps pen or a clip-on timer and two large front pockets big enough for a phone or a small tablet each. These aprons are also sold in a wide variety of colors and patterns, so you’re sure to find at least one that’ll fit your loved ones’ taste. — N.L.

Shop Hedley & Bennet aprons

Anova Precision Cooker

An immersion circulator (aka a sous vide machine) isn’t for everyone. But it can do things that no other gadget can. It can take the guesswork out of nailing the temp on a steak before finishing it off with a quick sear in a cast iron skillet. A sous vide machine can also create the perfect jammy center on a soft-boiled ramen egg or simply add a range of aromatics to various types of meat while they cook. This is the kind of thing that a lot of home cooks dream about but can’t quite justify buying, which is precisely what makes it a perfect gift. — S.R.

Buy Anova Precision Cooker at Amazon – $219

Microplane classic grater

A good grater is a must-have in the kitchen, and just like Band-Aid is to adhesive bandages and Kleenex is to tissues, Microplane has become synonymous when it comes to zesting and grating. The classic model comes with a no-slip plastic handle and an included protective cover and it can handle anything from parmesan cheese to garlic to nutmeg. And priced at $16, it’s an ideal kitchen gadget gift even if you don’t have a ton to spend. — S.R.

Buy microplane at Amazon – $16

ThermoWorks ThermoPop

There’s no shortage of instant-read thermometers out there, but ThermoWorks’ ThermoPop has been a staple in my kitchen for a long time. Yes, it’s cute, but that’s only one reason to buy it over others. I like that it’s quite accurate and provides temperature readings in just a couple of seconds, plus it’s splash resistant and pretty easy to clean. It also has a screen that you can rotate to show you the temperature in different orientations, making it easy to use in all kinds of positions. Plus, you can’t beat its $35 price tag, which is a steal for an accurate thermometer like this that also has an attractive, pocketable design. If you want the latest and great, spring for the ThermoPop 2 that just came out, which is even more accurate than the previous generation, faster and can read temperatures up to 572 degrees Fahrenheit. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor

Buy ThermoPop 2 at ThermoWorks – $35

John Boos cutting board

Anyone who has watched even a handful of cooking shows or videos has probably seen this cutting board in the background. And the reason is that they’re just great products that deliver everything you need and nothing more. Boos blocks are available in a huge range of shapes, sizes and woods, from small circular boards to huge maple slabs with juice grooves. That said, if you’re planning on gifting a cutting board this nice, don’t forget to include proper care instructions, which at the very minimum include oiling it once a month. — S.R.

Buy Boos board at Amazon – $95

The Good Shears by Material

Everyone needs a good pair of scissors, and it doesn’t hurt if they look good too. The Good Shears sport soft silicone handles and sharp micro-serrated blades that should make quick work of anything short of beef bones. And unlike a lot of cheaper competitors, the Good Shears are dishwasher safe and can be taken apart for sharpening or cleaning. — S.R.

Buy Good Shears at Material – $35

Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker

Those who eat rice regularly know that rice cookers are a much easier way to prepare the popular grain than using the stovetop alone, especially if you’re cooking for a crowd. Our favorite model is the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy thanks to its “fuzzy logic” tech (yes, that’s a technical term), which ensures perfectly cooked rice even if your water and rice measurements aren’t exact. It has settings for different sorts of rice: white, mixed, porridge, sweet, semi-brown, brown, rinse-free and quick-cooking. Other features include a timer and a keep-warm setting. The Zojirushi rice cooker also makes fantastic polenta, not to mention oatmeal from steel-cut oats.

There’s also an updated (and pricier) option called the Zojirushi Induction Heating System Rice Cooker. In addition to the fuzzy logic tech mentioned above, it features an induction heating tech that heats the inner cooking pan. According to the company, this allows the device to make precise temperature adjustments to cook exceptional rice. This also means the food will heat evenly, as the bottom, side and lid will all generate heat. — N.L.

Buy Zojirushi rice cooker at Amazon – $231

Vitamix Low-Profile blender

The Vitamix 5200 is often cited as the premium blender of choice among experienced cooks and professional chefs. But the default 64-ounce container is often much too tall to fit under most cabinets. Enter the Vitamix Low-Profile blender, which still has a 64-ounce container but has a much shorter stature so it easily fits in most kitchens. Aside from looks, it’s just as capable and powerful as the original. It can crush ice, make quick work out of frozen fruit and tough vegetables and puree soups with ease. — N.L.

Buy Vitamix Low-Profile blender at Amazon – $375

OXO Good Grips Precision scale

A good kitchen scale is an essential kitchen gadget, especially in times when loose volumetric measurements just don’t cut it (like baking). Not only does OXO’s Precision Scale support both metric and imperial measurements, it also features accurate 0.1-gram measurements that go up to six pounds. There’s also an easy-to-read digital display with a built-in timer, and its minimalist design will look good in practically anyone’s kitchen. — S.R.

Buy OXO scale at Amazon – $55

Sodastream Terra

Admittedly, this might not strictly be a gift for a cook, but it’s definitely handy to have around the kitchen and great for creating a custom sodas or cocktails. The Soda Stream Terra, is the company’s most affordable sparkling water maker. For just $100, the starter kit includes the device itself, a reusable 1L bottle and a CO2 cylinder. You can also spring for the $130 hydration pack if you’re shopping for an avid cocktail maker or seltzer addict. That tacks on two more 1L bottles, two 0.5 liter dishwasher-safe bottles and 40ml lemon flavor drops. The whole setup is super easy to use too, and doesn’t even need to be plugged in. Just attach the CO2 tank, fill up the bottle with water and then tap to add bubbles. From there your giftee can mix and match flavor packs to suit their taste while also cutting down on waste from packaging and transporting heavy cans or bottles. — S.R.

Buy Terra at Sodastream – $120

ButcherBox Favorites

If you have a meat lover in your life, ButcherBox’s Favorites is quite possibly the best gift they’ll ever get. Each shipment will have all of the company’s bestsellers lovingly vacuum-packed and frozen for their enjoyment. The contents include two pounds of ground beef, four eight-ounce boneless pork chops, three one-pound packs of boneless chicken breasts, two six-ounce filet mignons, one pound of sirloin tips, a 12-ounce pack of apple gouda sausage and a 10-ounce pack of bacon. That’s more than enough to keep them satisfied for at least a month, perhaps even longer. At least, if they don’t gorge it all in one go. — N.L.

Buy favorites box at ButcherBox – $159